Remember that hot-headed girl from the Funkdafied video with the baggy jeans on and the tomboy style? That girl has transformed over the years into a formidable MC and now a very sexy woman who now makes the men all pause. Coming up on So So Def with Jermaine Dupri, Da Brat has consistently maintained her well-known persona but now adjusts the format with her new album. Limelite, Luv, and Nightclubz demonstrates a confidence that promise, “I am going straight to the top.” Recently AllHipHop got a chance to chat with Da Brat. AllHipHop.com: Let’s just touch on what you have been doing the past three years since Unrestricted came out? A lot of your fans have followed your evolution from wearing baggy clothing and Timbs to who you are today. Brat: Yeah, I think I have definitely grown, I’ve matured. I’ve been through a lot and not just in three years, but through the course of my entire career. From Funkdafied the baggy clothes is still my thing, everyday I’m in 38 Girbauds all the time. But when its a photo shoot or a video I wanna give them something special, ya know, instead of the average thing that I started out with because as time goes on people change. I’m grown on now, and I’m not afraid to show a little cleavage or a little bit of skin. I’m cool with that now because back then I was like ooh no I’m not doing that. And all my fans have been loyal with me with this since 2000 when I dropped Unrestricted, my last album, I just kinda been chilling. JD has been working on different projects that I’ll jump on sometimes. I have been enjoying my life, spending more time with my family. I wanted a little down time ya know like every artist wants. I took vacations in St. Barts and St. Martin, and stayed over there for a few months and enjoyed the serenity of life. And when JD came over and said ‘you ready to do this album’ I was like ‘hell yah.’ AllHipHop.com: So what is the situation with JD right now, where are you two heading with the label? Brat: Well with he is the Senior VP of Arista so there is nothing but great things happening with So So Def too, him being the CEO of that company. Whatever JD does I have his backing and support, I’m supporting him 110%, he’s always been very supportive and caring, he has never pushed people to the side or whatever. I’m really happy with the JD situation, wherever he grow to, is where I’m going to grow to. LIke he already told me that later, once my record comes out, he is gonna give me my own label so instead of me trying to shop for it I’ll be in the position to do whatever I want to do. AllHipHop.com: Talk about the new album “Limelite, Luv, and Nightclubz” and what that will bring to the table that is new? Brat: The new album is just a more mature album. I wanted to choose different things to focus on and that’s where the album title came from. I didn’t want to choose one thing like my average things, I wanted to do something different. I’m always in the limelite since I became Da Brat and I became a part of the limelite. You give up your privacy, you give up everything if you have a passion for this. I automatically became a part of it. The luv songs focus on relationships and the first single “In luv with you.” Nightclubz, that’s where it go down in the nightclubz. After the show its the after party. I’m performing all the time and doing concerts and there’s always an after party. And that’s almost every weekend, three or four days a week ya know. Most of my life takes place in the nightclub. That’s where we kick it at. That’s where the title came from. AllHipHop.com: Some of the cuts on this album were produced by L.T. Hutton, who for a number of years was a producer over at Death Row Records (now Tha Row), can you explain how you two got down? Brat: I grew up with LT in Chicago, we used to dance together when we were like 16 or 17. We had like a dance group. And once the thing folded with Death Row he was just chilling and doing his thing I ran into him again, and I think everything happens for a reason. So I considered that to be a blessing and I was like you know what lets get into the studio and start making songs. The chemistry was just really good. And we started coming up with hits, and when JD was like “you ready to the an album” I was like “oh God I got like 100 songs already.” So I played him a lot of songs and we picked the best ones out of those and went with those and about half of what JD was doing. My album is definitely gonna be half JD because that’s my family. Like half from JD, half from LT. Because he couldn’t deny him. AllHipHop.com: Now one of the cuts on your album is a dedication to MC Lyte, can you explain why you chose her and why you have so much respect for Lyte? Brat: Yah, I got a song called “I Might As Well Tell You Who I Am” and it uses a sample from an MC Lyte song. I love MC Lyte. I grew up in high school and watched Yo! MTV Raps and MC Lyte was on there, Queen Latifah and Monie Love on there too. I love Monie Love and Queen Latifah, but Latifah was kinda on the African thing, and Lyte was on the tomboy style. She was a tomboy she had on those lil’ pinstripe suits. She really reminded me of myself. […]

AllHipHop.com: Can you talk about your history coming up? L: I can say one thing about all the trials and tribulations I faced getting to this point. A lot of it was a good learning experience. I don’t have any regrets of any of those situations as far as Mase retiring, Tommy Boy not fully understanding what we were trying to bring in ’96, L.A Reid having his hands full and not really being able to give me a fair shake. You got backlash from the court case with Shine, separation with Jennifer Lopez, leaving Arista and going independent, going through a war with distributor. Pressures that come with me, that’s like peanuts. I can say every situation from the beginning of my involvement until today has had the same level of importance. When I came to Bad Boy it wasn’t the flyest spot. n*ggas was taking shots at Bad Boy. Every question that was being asked was about Jennifer Lopez or the court case. It wasn’t no real acceptance for the new approach we taking toward the music industry, it was more of a gossip column. It was like signing to a gossip column instead of a record company. Any artist out there, a lot of this sh*t is in your hands anyway so it don’t matter if you go to Bad Boy, Universal, Def Jam or Death Row. A lot of the responsibility is in your hands. AllHipHop.com: Did you ever start to worry if this wasn’t the right situation or did you have complete trust in Puff and what he was doing? L: I know for a fact that Puff has relentless drive, he’s a brother that doesn’t want to look bad. He will go to any extremes financially or physically to avoid that. If you’re a person in the business that has a lot of great things working for you, but you might have minor flaws, he’s the perfect person to be with when you’re falling short on faith or support or anything. This dudes drive is like 24/7 – 365 days. To answer your question I never felt like this might not happen. I felt like me and Puff was put together for a real good reason, once we cut through the personal tape as far as initiating the whole relationship. You got to look at it from his point. This guy is putting his whole legacy in the hands of a guy that just came whistling along. It helped me out with a little compilation album back then and it helped him with a lot of situations. People might look at me and say "Loon saved Bad Boy." I just came where work was required. I did the work and now I’m here. I don’t take a lot of credit for saving Puff and saving Bad Boy; I don’t even know Jennifer Lopez. AllHipHop.com: So you don’t feel like you’re carrying Bad Boy? L: I have endured a lot of responsibilities that comes with that position, so initially you got to accept it. Mentally, I don’t program myself to think that I’m carrying Bad Boy. That’s a sycosis that can take an effect on you’re music. Your rhymes will start coming out like you’re the soul controller or savior of Bad Boy, and you’ll be spitting like that. I try to keep myself focused on what’s really going on around me and try to capitalize and elaborate off of that. Stay away from the whole Bad Boy movement and me being a force in it. I just accept it as credit, okay I’m getting acknowledged for my accomplishments, I just take it like that. AllHipHop.com: Can you talk about your growing up in Harlem and how did it affect you musically? L: Harlem has a whole lot of characteristics and talents that make up Harlem. It’s been a lot of old sh*t that’s been brought to the table that people are taking crazy. Like the “Harlem Shake." That was a dance put together by this alcoholic dude in the neighborhood by the name of Sisqo. His name is Al B. It was called the "Al B.," not the "Harlem Shake." This dude for a dollar or even 50 cent, he would do the Al B for you, for a shot of anything like a bottle of Corona or any type of beverage will get this man to perform the Al B for you. So with a dance that’s so accessible, for $1 you can learn how to do the Harlem Shake. That was just a whole dance lesson that just so happen to leak into the music industry. Just coming from Harlem the only pressure is being the way we’ve been represented. If people are aware of it we always represented Harlem the same way, any rapper that ever stepped in the game. Kurtis Blow had a jerry curl, with a top hat and two girls on his arm talking about "if he ruled the world." Everybody else was wearing adidas suits. Dougie Fresh, he had a fade wit the curls on top and the Sergio Velente velour, he kept rubbing his hair, he had a little smooth sh*t with him and he was from Harlem. Mase came in the generation where youthfulness was definitely a requirement because you had a lot of older and older looking artists. Mase was eye candy, just like Nelly, he was eye candy for a minute. Girls was tired of looking at these rough dudes in videos with dogs and all kinds of crazy sh*t. So just coming from Harlem there’s never any pressures, it’s more of a crutch. Harlem is something that will never fail you. Being from Harlem, the squarest dude in the world can go to a correctional facility in Wisconsin with a bunch of rednecks that just want to hang him, and he can represent his self. Being from Harlem can stand for something. It’s the way we put it down in Harlem for […]

Most people only recognize Loon as the guy who blew up when he was featured in P.Diddy’s "I Need A Girl" series of hits. As with most "overnight successes," it usually takes years and years of hard work to finally realize your dream. Loon is no exception. Loon comes from Harlem, where he says he was treated like a Prince, due to some serious street connections. Unlike most of his peers, Loon can also say that he also grew up around some of the most famous and infamous icons of our generation. Loon’s story is a must read. AllHipHop.com: Explain the journey to this point in your career? Loon: I was a victim of a lot of transitions, that’s how we going to sum it up. I was on Tommy Boy first, had a group called Harlem World, had an album called “Harlem World”. At the time it might have not been the appropriate thing for the music world, but it was introduced in ’97 by Mase on Bad Boy Records, so I left Tommy Boy. Then I pursued a solo career, ’cause unfortunately my partner got locked up. I ended up in the office of a gentleman by the name of Clive Davis. He offered me a solo deal, and with my solo deal on the table, I was also offered to be a part of the group Harlem World that was established based on the success of Mase’s solo attempt, his solo album named “Harlem World”. Unfortunately Mase retired, we lost the support from Sony and the group situation withered away. Which brings me back to Arista, solo deal still on the table, Clive Davis still granted me the same deal. Did the solo deal and 6 songs in here’s another transition. Clive Davis leaves and goes to J Records, LA Reid steps in with quite a few things on his plate, maybe more than what was required at the time. I just wasn’t considered a factor in his new reign, so therefore I was on the brink of being dropped. At that point I made a suggestion to work with Puff who was in Miami at the time, working on a compilation album, which became P. Diddy and the Bad Boy Family. I was scheduled to go in there for 4 days and write 2 songs. I ended up staying 4 weeks and I wrote 11 songs. I pretty much been here ever since. So that’s the long version of all the transitions. I was a victim of the music business, but I was strong, focused and I was determined. AllHipHop.com: Who would you say is your inspiration? L: My inspiration first and foremost is God; I have a very trained relationship with God. It’s more like a brotherly relationship with God. My family once again is one of my inspirations because I came from a family that didn’t promise a lot of stars and success. To come out of that as one of the members in my family and be successful kind of makes me be inspired. Friends, peers, you got a couple of artist out there that definitely inspired me like Biggie Smalls, Tupac. One of my first inspirations was Kool G. Rap and Big Daddy Kane. All the artist that had substance pretty much inspired me to want to come out and establish my character and vibe that I bring to the table. AllHipHop.com: What makes this album different from anything else out right now? L: I think right now I took the initiative to kind of consider the radio and the dance floor. It’s like a primary target as opposed too me trying to establish some kind of street credibility, or credit as a emcee, or a dominate force in the game. I just pretty much tried to fill the void with the dance floors and just try to bring that classic Bad Boy vibe that Puff brought to the table in ’97. I got Puff with his producer cap on, he’s pretty much behind the scenes how we learned to love and appreciate him, not to try to take something away from him as an artist. We just try to really go and follow that old Bad Boy formula with a little new twist. To reach the new generation of music that is taking over the airwaves now. AllHipHop.com: Explain your rap style? L: My style is pretty much like me, laid back, smooth. I kind of elaborate off the positive things I see and pretty much the vibe that I get when I wake up. I don’t wake up thinking about killing nobody, I don’t wake up thinking about robbing and stealing. When I wake up I think about getting money. I think about partying, I think about girls, just all the finer things in life. I just try to take those things and elaborate on them without glorifying them. Like the way I use my dialog to talk to women, I don’t do too much promising jewelry and all the things that dudes think girls want to hear, but I try to talk from a more monogamist aspect. Really pointing out the things fellas take for granted, like opening the door, putting up the umbrella when it’s raining, that’s my approach. I got that little old fashioned, choir boy approach, with a little street edge. AllHipHop.com: Can you explain the growth from back then to today? L: Me in my early rap days coming from the streets of Harlem and Harlem not really being a factor to the real driving force in the music business, I tried to represent Harlem in a darker aspect. I really wanted to bring a more darker, realistic aspect of Harlem as opposed to what you see just riding past seventh. You can see all the fly sh*t, you can see all the kids out and all the activity in the street until like 3am in the morning. I wanted to try to expose the […]